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02/22/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After closing out 2011 as the hottest team in the league, the new calendar year hasn't been as kind to the Bruins.
The Blues have yet to drop a regulation game at home in 2012.
St. Louis puts its franchise record 21-game home point streak on the line this evening as it looks to deal Boston its first three-game slide since late October.
The Blues have been one of the more dominating teams this year on home ice, where they are 26-3-4 this season and haven't lost in regulation since Dec. 3. They have gone 18-0-3 at Scottrade Center since and sit fourth overall in the Western Conference with 79 points, five back of Detroit for first place.
St. Louis comes into this test having won five straight at home and outscoring its opponents 16-3 in that span. However, the club fell to 10-13-3 on the road this season with Sunday's setback in Chicago and kicks off a six-game road trip tomorrow night in Nashville.
Goaltender Brian Elliott was coming off a shutout win over the visiting Wild on Saturday and held the Blackhawks off the board through the first two periods before getting beat twice in the final frame. Chicago added an empty- net tally to hand St. Louis a 3-1 defeat.
"We're a team right now that needs everybody to play at a high level for us to win on the road," said St. Louis head coach Ken Hitchcock. "The way we're built, we don't have offensive players to carry us. So if guys are not up to task it reflects on our game."
Elliott made 24 saves and Andy McDonald scored in his third straight game for the Blues, who had won six of seven coming in. Patrik Berglund and Jamie Langenbrunner each posted an assist for a third straight game.
Langenbrunner, though, suffered a broken left foot in the loss and was placed on injured reserve Tuesday. He is expected to be re-evaluated in four weeks.
Goaltender Jaroslav Halak was scratched for the past two games due to the flu, but is expected to serve as at least the backup tonight after Ben Bishop was sent back to the minors. McDonald is also questionable due to flu-like symptoms.
The Blues have a chance tonight to deal the Bruins their first three-game slide since Oct. 22-29. Boston followed that season-high slide by winning 10 straight and 21 of their next 24, but have gone 11-11-1 since Dec. 31 and now own just a two-point edge over Ottawa for first place in the Northeast Division.
The Bruins have lost six of nine this month and have been shut out four times in that span. That includes Sunday in Minnesota, where Boston was dealt a 2-0 setback.
Tim Thomas allowed two goals on 29 shots as Boston fell to 1-2 on a six-game road trip.
"We're just shooting it right back into the goaltender. ... That's what happens when things aren't going your way," Bruins head coach Claude Julien said.
The Blues have won nine of their last 11 versus the Bruins, with three of the past six encounters ending in shootout fashion. That includes St. Louis' 2-1 victory at Boston in the lone meeting last season.
The Bruins have won their last two trips to St. Louis and haven't lost in regulation as the road club in this series since Dec. 18, 1999.
<< Cavs resume lengthy homestand vs. Hornets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Cavaliers will resume a team-record nine-game
homestand tonight versus the New Orleans Hornets at Quicken Loans Arena.
Cleveland is 4-3 on the residency and is coming off last night's 101-100 win
over the Cen
<< Caps hope to get season on track vs. streaking Sens
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With just one victory in their last six games, the
Washington Capitals are desperate to get their postseason push back on track.
The Caps hope they can bounce back tonight at Ottawa's Scotiabank Place, where
they'll try to
<< Reeling Celtics visit OKC
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oklahoma City Thunder shoot for a fourth straight win
this evening when they welcome the Boston Celtics to Chesapeake Energy Arena.
After combining for 91 points on Sunday, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook
totaled 62
<< Clippers host Nuggets at Staples Center
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Clippers aim to halt a two-game skid and
head into the NBA's All-Star break atop the Pacific Division when they host
the Denver Nuggets tonight.
The Clips lead their Staples Center co-tenants, the L
Bucks and Bulls clash in the Second City >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reigning NBA MVP Derrick Rose recently made his return to
the hardwood following a five-game absence due to lower back spasms.
Rose and the Bulls will try to give the Central Division-rival Milwaukee Bucks
a few spasms Wed
Struggling Sixers invade Space City to take on Rockets >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia 76ers should consider themselves lucky to
still have a sizable lead atop the Atlantic Division standings since they're
currently mired in a season-high four-game losing streak.
The Sixers look to end their
Avs shoot for season sweep of Kings >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Last night, the Kings found the offense they have been so
sorely lacking but it still resulted in a third straight loss.
Los Angeles looks to rebound this evening and avoid a season series sweep at
the hands of the hosting
Williams signs new deal with Union >>
Chester, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Union announced on Wednesday
that the club has signed defender Sheanon Williams to a new contract.
The 21-year-old joined the club from Harrisburg City Islanders in August 2010
and has gone
There is little doubt that the NFL is where the sportsbooks see the most action and also make the most loot. The NFL possesses betting friendly attributes that are unlike any of the other major sports. First off, there are relatively few teams to keep track of in comparison to college football betting or college basketball. And second, these teams play only once a week which makes staying on top of the results much easier than it is in the daily leagues such as the NBA, NHL, and MLB.
These dynamics, along with the sheer excitement of watching and wagering on football, brings more square action to the table than any of the other sports. Almost every Tom, Dick and Harry in America is an NFL expert in their own mind and that is precisely what the oddsmakers prey upon.
Understanding who bets the games is just as important as understanding which teams are playing the games. The market at times will dictate price, which in the betting world means the oddsmakers cater to the public rather than reality.
Knowing the market inside and out is the basis of our NFL handicapping model. That is, our approach to NFL handicapping is of the contrarian or value seeking variety. We will at times place a higher premium on public sentiment than on the fundamentals. This strategy dictates playing dogs and/or lesser competent teams, or teams the public wants nothing to do with. Or better yet, fading the teams the oddsmakers want you to bet on.
Along these same lines, we carry a similar notion that the first week of the NFL season presents one of the ripest opportunities for the astute gambler. This conflicts with conventional wisdom and/or handicapping lore, as most would say it is better to watch a few games and assess each team before jumping in with both feet. That’s all fine and dandy, but there are some interesting trends to exploit in Week 1 and we’d be remiss to ignore them. Let us quickly explain.
Gone are the days of dynasties, where the same core players stay intact and dominate the league year after year. Free agency and player movements can completely transform teams from one season to the next. In today’s parity-driven NFL, poor teams typically don’t stay poor for all that long and excellent teams must constantly reinvent themselves to stay on top.
The temptation might be to assume prior year results are the best indicator of who is going to cover in Week 1. To Joe Public, playoff teams from the prior season, home teams, favorites, and so one, look even more enticing than usual since there is no current season performance to judge them against. But the question begs: are the oddsmakers setting a trap?
To find the answer, we culled five years worth of Week 1 NFL data. As always, all of our analysis is done from an ATS perspective. The purpose here is to share the most important angles we unearthed and try to explain the logic behind them. So strap on your helmet, throw on your shoulder pads, and follow our lead as we expose some rare holes in the oddsmakers’ line of defense.
Home vs. Away Teams
Over the past five seasons, NFL home teams in Week 1 are just 31-42-7 ATS (42 percent). This of course implies that roadies are a 58 percent winning proposition during this time. The public at large has a tendency to overvalue home teams and this is especially true in Week 1 when there is no current season data to make predictions from. Consequently, the oddsmakers almost surely shade the home teams, by and large making road teams the choice for the value player.
Conclusion: Look long and hard at road teams first when handicapping the opening week.
Price ranges
Favorites are just 31-42-7 ATS (42 percent) in the opening week over the past five NFL seasons (Coincidentally, home teams hold the same ATS record as noted above). This means that underdogs bark at a 58 percent clip. Mid-range favorites performed the worst among our specified price ranges. In particular, favorites priced between –3 1/2 and –6 1/2 are only 8-15 ATS (35 percent) during this time.
The same basic pattern holds true when looking at home favorites (road favorites gravitate towards a 50 percent mean). Home favorites indeed are just 21-32-3 ATS (40 percent) in the first week of NFL action since 1999. Again, mid-range favorites are similarly the poorest performers when we look at home teams. Consider that home teams priced between –3 1/2 and –6 1/2 have stumbled to a 6-13 ATS (32 percent) mark in Week 1 games the past five seasons.
Conclusion: Like home teams, favorites and particularly mid-range favorites are generally overvalued in Week 1.
Playoff teams
It might surprise you to learn that playoff teams from the prior year versus non-playoff teams from the prior year are a mere 16-23-3 (41 percent) ATS in NFL Week 1 games over the past five seasons. Home teams which made the playoffs versus teams which did not make the playoffs from the prior season drop to a meager 7-14-1 ATS (33 percent) during this time.
Why are playoff teams, and in particular those at home, such bad bets the past five openers? Just as the case with home teams and with favorites, oddsmakers intentionally overprice playoff teams in the opening week to compensate for the public’s propensity to over bet them.
This theory holds true just looking at straight-up records from the past season as well. That is, home teams with winning records from the prior season vs. road teams with losing records from the prior season are just 8-13 ATS in Week 1 NFL games since 1999.
Conclusion: Playoff teams from the prior year and in particular, home playoff teams, are overvalued in Week 1 NFL games.
Scoring defense and scoring offense
Do good defenses and for that matter good offenses from the prior season fare better against the number the following year in Week 1 games? Well, sort of. Generally speaking, teams with a solid offense or defense from the prior season tend to do well in the opening week so long as they are on the road. As a host, however, the best offenses and best defenses from the prior year tend to be overvalued in Week 1.
Consider that the top five scoring defenses (i.e. points allowed) from the prior season are a nice 8-4 ATS (66 percent) on the road in NFL openers the past five seasons. Meanwhile, the top five scoring defenses from the prior season are just 3-8-2 ATS (27 percent) as a host in Week 1 during the same time period.
There is no discernable advantage or disadvantage for teams with a top five scoring offense (i.e. points scored) in Week 1 games. However, when we look at scoring offenses from the bottom up (isolating the five worst offenses from the prior season), the results are rather interesting. In particular, teams ranked in the bottom five in scoring offense from the prior season are 9-4-1 ATS (69 percent) when on the road in Week 1.
The logic is simply that the public perception is a poor scoring offensive unit from the year prior will have little chance of winning on the road in Week 1. In turn, the oddsmakers compensate for this perception and these poor offensive teams from the year prior carry extra line value on the Week 1 trail.
Conclusion: Teams with top-ranked defenses from the previous season are good bets when playing on the road, but poor bets when playing at home. Also, teams ranked among the bottom five in scoring offense from the prior season are generally a good value in their Week 1 openers, provided they are playing on the road.
Scoring margin
An exceedingly straightforward way of measuring scoring offense and scoring defense together as a whole is to look at a team's “margin." Margin is simply scoring offense minus scoring defense, which is a fairly clear-cut measure of how a team does on both sides of the ball. Typically, the higher the margin, the better the team.
In this regard, it might seem counterintuitive that teams carrying the higher margin from the prior season in week one matchups are merely 31-42-7 ATS (42 percent). Furthermore, road teams with the higher margin are 14-20-6 ATS (41 percent), while home teams with the higher margin are 17-22-1 ATS (44 percent). Once again, these results line up with the theory that better teams from the prior year are overvalued come opening day of the following season.
Conclusion: “Better” teams, which often boast a higher margin than their opponent, are overvalued the following season in NFL openers.
In sum
Oddsmakers cater NFL betting lines to match public perception and also to bait the public into poor bets. The temptation to use the prior year’s success as a buy sign for how a team will perform against the spread in Week 1 of the following season is an enormous trap.
The fact is, isolating road teams, road dogs, non-playoff teams vs. playoff teams, teams with a losing record or low margin vs. playoff teams or ones with a high margin from the previous year is where the line value resides. Quite simply, taking the road less traveled is your surest path to NFL betting profits.
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The most popular sports to bet on are NFL and college football along with NBA and NCAA basketball. There are multiple betting opportunities within those sports, beginning with the basic wager on a game’s outcome (also called betting the side). College Football Point spreads are used in both football and basketball in an attempt to even the attractiveness of each team in a match-up. ( See our article detailing how and why point spreads are made)
But you could also simply bet on the money line, or straight-up winner of the game. Oddsmakers use the money line so that more money must be risked on the favorite or expected winner and less money on the underdog to balance the action on both sides. While money line gambling is an attractive option for football and basketball bettors who only care about picking a winner, it is the primary option for those bettors who enjoy wagering on MLB baseball and individual sports like boxing, tennis, golf and racing events such as NASCAR. ( More details on playing the Money Line)
Another bet across all major team sports including football, basketball, baseball, and hockey involves wagering on the amount of scoring in a game, called an Over/Under total. For example, the Over/Under total on Super Bowl XXXIX was 48, which means a bettor could wager whether there would be more or less than 48 points scored by both teams combined in the game.
The final score of Super Bowl XXXIX was 24-21; the scoring of both teams added up to 45, which means the game went Under . So Under bettors won, and Over bettors lost.
Sports gambling doesn’t end there. Betting sides and totals are the most common wagers available everywhere, but many sportsbooks also offer future bets on big upcoming events like who will win next year’s Super Bowl and what movie will win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
The main advantage of futures is that you can get appealing odds by betting far in advance. For example, with NFL futures you often can get much higher odds on a team by betting before the season even starts. A NFL future bet on a team to win the Super Bowl odds might be 20/1 in the preseason; but by midseason, their odds might decrease to 10/1 if they turn out to be legitimate championship contenders.
Involves one individual wager, whether it be on your team to cover the point spread, to win the game straight-up on the money line, or to go over/under the total.
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